Unicorn Cupcakes - Walmart
We seem to be at the tail end of the unicorn trend. It was going strong for several years, with notable detour through mermaids, before taking a shocking left turn into llamas. I'm not sure how we went from magical creatures to a real-life furry animal, but, here we are.
I myself am not a unicorn-person, but I have several unicorn-people in my life with ages ranging from single digits, to nearly 30, so I get the appeal. They're magical, they're colorful, they're a symbol of innocence, and they inspired Peter S. Beagle to write one of my favorite books, "The Last Unicorn." (I actually met him at Otakon once, he was a really cool guy and they totally screwed him over the animated movie rights.) I'm not shocked that unicorns were trending, and I'm not even annoyed by the trend itself, but I am annoyed by how lazy most of these products seem to be.
Mentos Rainbow- Five BelowThe
When was the last time you bought Mentos? At one point, back when their catchy theme song ruled the world, they were one of my favorite candies. If Tic-Tacs and Starbursts combined to create a crunchy, chewy, minty baby, it would be Mentos. One day I just stopped buying them. No rhyme or reason really, but they seem to be doing just fine without me. I see them in every checkout aisle, and they keep releasing cool new flavors overseas (which make me incredibly jealous.) Why not jump into the wacky flavor market here in the States?
Anyway, I saw this fruity rainbow variety pack at Five Below, and I thought this might be fun to check out to get a little taste of what we've all been missing.
Spice Kake Krimpets - CVS
Tastykake is kind of a big deal around here, especially in Philadelphia. They may not be as pop culture friendly as Twinkies, but they get their fair share of shout-out's, like in the Ol' Dirty Bastard song, "Brooklyn Zoo." Honestly, I was never much of a Tastykake fan, but, in a not-so-shocking twist of fate, my Philly-born fiance is a Butterscotch Krimpet addict. I honestly had no idea. Since I buy all the groceries, and I'm not into Tastykakes, I never kept them in the house, but it turns out that he was buying them from a vending machine at work... until they ran out. That's when I started buying them, and let me tell you, I have bought more Krimpets in 2019 than I have purchased in my entire life.
Little did I know, 2019 was going to be the year of the Krimpet.
Krispy Kreme Doughnut Jelly Belly Beans - Five Below
As a kid, my grandparents always had jelly beans in their house, but they were either Brach's fruit or spiced flavors, and I was perfectly fine with that, until we discovered Jelly Belly. Flavors like strawberry jam and chocolate pudding blew Brach's out of the water. There was no going back. I remember my mom would buy the large variety boxes of jelly beans with "recipes" printed on the lid and we'd have fun mixing and matching flavors to create new experiences, which was a completely new concept. It was like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Now-a-days, I appreciate Jelly Belly's contributions to the candy world, but their products just don't "wow" me like they used to. Maybe all their competition catching up to them with the wacky flavor and mixing trend is drowning out their achievements, maybe their products just aren't as good as they used to be, or maybe my adult taste-buds are just harder to impress. All legitimate factors, but I just don't feel excitement for this brand anymore.
Pumpkin Pie vs. Sweet Cinnamon Kit-Kats
I know I said I wasn't going to jump into the winter stuff...but these were ALSO on clearance, so let's pit Halloween against Christmas and see who comes out on top!
I'll let Halloween go first, because it's my favorite, and it's obviously the superior holiday.
Apple Chocolates: Dove vs. Hersey's
I'm back just in time to celebrate the end of a decade!
Like always, my hiatus wasn't planned, and proof of that is...I kept buying stuff, so much stuff, and telling myself, "it's okay it's for a review." Well, we both know that didn't happen. To make matters worse (or better), I kind of jumped into the Halloween clearance section with both feet. There is a LOT of fall-themed backlog to get through, but I consider that a win since I'd rather ruminate in fall flavors than dig myself into further foodie-debt with winter offerings.
To speed up the de-hoarding process, today's post is double trouble. Today we have two different apple themed chocolates, which one will be more a-peel-ing?
I've been putting a lot of overtime and odd-hours in at work, and it's left me feeling like the "Working Dead." (A must-listen for anyone working a 9-5.) Long story short, I may not be an actual zombie, but I certainly feel like one, so it's the perfect time to give these Rotten Zombie Skittles a try. (Against my better judgement.)
My first impression of this item is that it's a lot of fun. Instead of using only spooky colors (like Sour Patch Kids), or re-releasing the same ol' product in spooky shapes (like Reese's), or even just changing the wrapping to a Halloween theme (like m&m's), Skittles' seasonal offering actually tries to put the "trick" back into "trick or treat."
As a Halloween enthusiast, and food blogger I have to point out that the concept is certainly not original. Skittles took the Beanboozled concept, gave it a Halloween-themed coat of paint, and offered it in shareable portions as well as snack-sized Halloween giveaway baggies. But is giving away trickster, potentially inedible, candy for Trick or Treaters a good idea? I guess it all depends on how rotten this flavor truly is...it's time to find out.
Mountain Dew Voo-Dew - 7-Eleven
Move over Japan, America has it's own spooky mystery soda! What am I talking about? Well a few years ago Pepsi released spooky Halloween-themed mystery flavored cola in Japan. And I bought some on eBay and made a YouTube video about it because I love Halloween and I had a lot more free time back then. (I miss those days.) Check out the video below:
As you can see, the Pepsi bottles had really cute labels (really really cute) but the flavor was subtle and a bit of a let-down. But, if all of Mountain Dew's other limited edition and seasonal flavors are any indication, this time things will be different.
